What series or area of US coins do you feel is most 'underrated' at this moment?

PutTogether

Maybe you feel a certain series has taken a price crash in the last two years. Maybe a series was hot for a while and blew up.....only to hover back down. Maybe you feel a certain segment has just never gotten the attention it really deserves..

I'll share mine.

Proof Barber quarters. Proof Barbers are gorgeous, affordable, and have very low mintages. I've never understood why they aren't significantly more expensive, especially since there are cultish Barber fanatics. Maybe it is because all of the Barber focus tends to be on MS stuff, and no one builds complete sets of proofs. Even still, a lot of people want a nice one for type, and they've just never seemed all that expensive to me. I doubt they ever will be for specifically that reason......anyone who wants one is just going to buy one. Still their relative 'value' seems good to me.

RYK

I would be more general and say that proof seated and Barber coinage, all denominations seem under appreciated.

39Special

Barber dimes seem relatively inexpensive to me. Many of the Mercury counterparts sell for more, even at higher pops. I don't own much Barber coinage myself as I tend to follow the more modern issues.

Frankiefanatic

<<<<<<< under rated is an ugly word and sadly this Icon has been dealt an ugly blow since its inception. It's life was cut very short, has always been 90% silver as opposed to his current holder of the thrown. The Icon was one of the forefathers to this country, this nation and has been dealt with the respect of a mud puddle to the collecting society.

Sadly, Mr. Franklin brought more to the table of American history than those depicted on many coins of this great nation.

but he will always be th3e underdog to the Kennedy or the Walker..

PCcoins

pre-1964 gem toned washingtons.... well I had to say that, because that's what I collect and love.

fivecents

Problem free lower grade (AG thru Fine) common date large eagle PCGS NGC bust dollars.

CoinJunkie

One reason proof Barbers are "undervalued" is that even though the mintages were "low", almost
none circulated. Furthermore, almost no one collects them by date, so the pool of available
examples for type is actually quite large. I tend to believe the market is pretty efficient at pricing
something that's generally available.

STONE

G$4

keyman64

<< <i><<<<<<< under rated is an ugly word and sadly this Icon has been dealt an ugly blow since its inception. It's life was cut very short, has always been 90% silver as opposed to his current holder of the thrown. The Icon was one of the forefathers to this country, this nation and has been dealt with the respect of a mud puddle to the collecting society.

Sadly, Mr. Franklin brought more to the table of American history than those depicted on many coins of this great nation.

but he will always be th3e underdog to the Kennedy or the Walker.. >>

I would rate Franklins higher than the 1964-today version...might be just me though. I just sold my complete MS62-MS64 ish set....kept my MS63 '55 Bugs Bunny though.

PCcoins

<<<Sadly, Mr. Franklin brought more to the table of American history than those depicted on many coins of this great nation.>>>


Well I can't disagree with that notion, but without Mr. Washington we wouldn't be living in America as we know it today. Instead, might have been called The United States of New England????

speety

<< <i>G$4


>>




Hahaha my post was ""Stellas - I can count the number of people trying to put together the entire set on one hand..."

Then I decided to read through and see the other posts...

savoyspecial

currency: MPC's
coins: IHC's

DNADave

It seems to me that early dollars are awful quiet right now.

Is it just me or is that not really the case?

COALPORTER

Anything made of nickel. Has any nickle series, including the 3CN, moved at all in the last 10 or 15 years?

Monstarcoins

<< <i>


Well I can't disagree with that notion, but without Mr. Washington we wouldn't be living in America as we know it today. Instead, might have been called The United States of New England???? >>



Not really

speety

<< <i>It seems to me that early dollars are awful quiet right now.

Is it just me or is that not really the case? >>



I think part of the problem, at least with AU+ coins, is trying to find a truly nice and original coin. Soo many have been stripped and its often those that you see sitting in dealers cases, nice coins in AU and MS seem to be doing fairly well. I cannot comment on coins in F-XF grades...

PutTogether

The bust dollars are a good point. In the 4-12 range, it doesn't seem like they've changed in price in years and years. I don't pay that close of attention though.

cladking

There's one thing that never seems to get noticed by anyone and tend to be very scarce; Proof Likes.

While most of the older series all the date m/m combinations may not exist in PL they probably do for
most of the modern series so complete sets may be possible. One could build a spectacular set of these
that almost anyone could appreciate. Even noncollectors might be impressed.

500Bay

Three cent nickels seem to be permanently underrated. A Mint State set is very tough.

291fifth

None are underrated. The US coin market is large and very mature.

Beware of being lured into thin markets that are touted as being "underrated." They are usually "underrated" because they are not popular now and probably never will be.

Barberian

<< <i><<<<<<< under rated is an ugly word and sadly this Icon has been dealt an ugly blow since its inception. It's life was cut very short, has always been 90% silver as opposed to his current holder of the thrown. The Icon was one of the forefathers to this country, this nation and has been dealt with the respect of a mud puddle to the collecting society.

Sadly, Mr. Franklin brought more to the table of American history than those depicted on many coins of this great nation.

but he will always be th3e underdog to the Kennedy or the Walker.. >>



I haven't thrown a half dollar ever. That could cause rim dings, which I detest! Franklin half dollars are just plain flat-out, butt ugly.

ambro51

Standish Barry Threepences....

RWB

$2.50 gold

TPRC

<< <i>None are underrated. The US coin market is large and very mature.

Beware of being lured into thin markets that are touted as being "underrated." They are usually "underrated" because they are not popular now and probably never will be. >>



But I keep looking for value!

For example, I have been looking at s-mint $1 gold in xf/au. Very low mintage and low price until you get to the AU++ through MS range. Still, how many people care? Looks like a very thin market.
I also have always thought that original xf+ seated dollars are under-appreciated.

QuarterCollector

Bust and Seated everything but especially quarters. Most examples are under 500 pieces.

TheBigB

There usually has to be enough supply of an item to build a collector base or demand.

PerryHall

<< <i>$2.50 gold >>



The $5 Lib gold is more popular because the common dates are usually less expensive and are larger coins with twice the gold content.

Pistareen

<< <i>Standish Barry Threepences >>



Funny, it seems that market is actually doing very well right now. I just sold one last week, and specimens offered at auction have continued to bring record prices.

Some of the answers here are puzzling to me. As a guy who makes his living selling mostly obscure corners of American numismatics, hearing that Bust dollars or Indian Head cents are underrated makes me scratch my head -- they seem like precisely the sort of things that have plenty of continual collector interest in all grades and qualities.

Underrated, to me, means the state coppers that cost little more now than they did 15 years ago, or beautiful historic gold medals that trade at some minuscule fraction over spot, or Hard Times tokens that cost less in choice Unc than their commoner middle date large cent cousins do in EF.

questor54

Morgan Dollars.

scottgardener

Not any more!

I'd say Liberty gold, earlier dates, O, and S mints. There are coins with populations of under 200 that sell for under $2000 or even $1000. It's especially crazy when you consider how gold is doing just by itself.

NewEnglandRarities

<< <i>

<< <i>Standish Barry Threepences >>



Funny, it seems that market is actually doing very well right now. I just sold one last week, and specimens offered at auction have continued to bring record prices.

Some of the answers here are puzzling to me. As a guy who makes his living selling mostly obscure corners of American numismatics, hearing that Bust dollars or Indian Head cents are underrated makes me scratch my head -- they seem like precisely the sort of things that have plenty of continual collector interest in all grades and qualities.

Underrated, to me, means the state coppers that cost little more now than they did 15 years ago, or beautiful historic gold medals that trade at some minuscule fraction over spot, or Hard Times tokens that cost less in choice Unc than their commoner middle date large cent cousins do in EF. >>



100% agree John

7Jaguars

Not a board to cover politics and debate, but Franklin was not all that much of a hero, esp. when it came to fiscal policy and the engineered inflation of Revolutionary times and how it put the onus on the middle class equivalent of the time..

TahoeDale

If this question had been posed in 2001, my answer then was draped and CBH's. But time has been on the side of the collectors who jumped on this series in the early part of that decade, and those prices for most grades have doubled or tripled. And the grades that have not risen substantially( like 63 and 64) will continue to increase.

Today? Maybe not the most underrated, but $2 1/2 and $5 gold in years before 1870, in grades MS 62 and better. So few pieces have survived in the upper gardes.

My opinion for the most underrated/under appreciated series-- MS 63 to 65 Seated Liberty halves.

coolest

<< <i>I would agree with the sentiment that the 3c nickel is underrated. There are business strike dates in the 1880's with mintages of 5,000 or less that can be obtained in circulated grades for chicken feed.

Aren't half cents a little out of vogue as well? >>



Chiken feed? I cant even find them in any grade (1883 1884, or 1885)

coolest

I thought $10 gold indians in 55 or 58 would be a great investment.

Type2

SBA.